British farmers are upset that their government may give access to the UK market to beef from Australia. They argue that they are not competitive against their Aussie peers. The relative competitiveness is difficult to understand based on public data. Based on dated numbers from the FAO, Brazilian farmers net the most for their cattle, which would explain why their production is expanding faster than other countries. But that would have to mean that their processing is more efficient than other countries to concurrently be the fastest growing exporter.  New Zealand’s pricing may come closest to Australia’s, in which case British farmers should be somewhat concerned. But Australian production is more variable than British b...

TAGS – Livestock, Australia, Europe, Macroeconomics